😂 - I am a bit obsessed when it comes to cleaning it, especially because I live in Colorado and I ride my bike during the winter as well. Hence, due to salt, I wash it often. I will update a nice video about it!
The countershaft seal failed because your chain was tighten improperly (too tight). The chain tightness check on this model of KTM is very "complicated" and most dealers including my own KTM authorized mechanic tightened the chain waaaaaay to much and if you offroad it will tension the countershaft which digs trough the seal and the seal will eventually fail. Your seal will also fail again if the chain is too tight. If you only do road riding it might not as you rarely compress the back suspension soo much that the countershaft flexes, but if you do offroad it will 100% fail again if the chain in not set as specified in the KTM manual. The procedure is the following 1. Leave the bike under its own weight by putting it on a track stand (the ones that lift the back wheel by the swingarm), or by resting the handlebars on a wall so the bike doesn't tip (this might make it harder to adjust the tensioning screws. You can also use the center stand but then you need to leave a bit more chain slack than recommended when adjusting the slack, as on the center stand the chain is at its maximum loosenes since the swingarm is full extended relative to the countershaft. 2. Measure the initial chain slack by making sure the chain is tight on the upper part (put it in gear and reverse the bike a few mm which should make the upper part tight). The measurement must be done on the lower part of the swingarm by pressing on the chain upwards towards the swingarm approximately 1 inch after the lower plastic chain guide ends. The distance between the chain you are pressing on and the swingarm inside face (the swingarm has a lip to it towards you, the chain must not be measured against the lip that is facing you but against the inside face that is parallel to the ground). The measurement should be between 2 and 5 mm, where 2 mm means the chain is at its slacker setting, while 5 mm is the tightest the chain should be. If you measure more than 5 mm, then your countershaft seal will eventually fail if you keep riding like that. 3. if you need to adjust, loosen your rear nut an use the 2 swingarm adjusters to tighten or loosen the chain as needed, then repeat the measurement until between 2 and 5 mm. I make a habbit to check after my KTM authorized mechanic and the first time I had the bike for my 15k service I noticed my chain was really tight (12 mm gap). I asked him why he did it like that and he said because the chain slaps otherwise. Well, yes the chain will occasionally slap if at low revs high torque situations, but that happens on any offroad orientated bike, and I rather have a bit of slap from time to time than a countershaft seal or even countershaft being irreversibly damaged. Use this information as you want, but I think it will save you a lot of trouble if you do it as the manual recommends.
Hi! Thank you so much for spending your time to provide all this information. I will certainty used this information and I am sure other viewers will as well! Thank you again!
@@MentaL65535 I wanted to share something else about my ktm and see what are your thoughts. A few months ago I noticed a rattling noise (maybe more like a vibration noise) coming from the engine bay. This rattling noise seems to appear anytime I accelerate very hard (full throttle) between 5k rpm and 6.5k rpm, and it gets more hearable as the engine is under a lot of pressure, like 4th/5th/6th gear, and for example, if I am uphill. The performance seems not being compromised at all, and this noise is completely absent if I don’t accelerate very hard or when idle. I brought it to 3 KTMs dealers and they told me it is nothing to be concerned about. Have you ever experienced anything like that?
@@checkitout3474 I didn't notice anything like you are describing on my bike, but I do run Remus exhaust with the DB killer out and that usually covers the engine noise at high RPM and when riding on the road I also use ear plugs that cut a lot of the engine, wind and high exhaust notes, so there might be a rattle there I just don't notice. When the engine is cold I do hear low RPM rattle from the timing chain, but that indeed is a known "issue" with most KTM engines as they use a hydraulic chain tensioner that has no tensioner backing prevention. What I mean is that the tensioner is allowed to retract back when there is no oil pressure after the engine is turned off, so every time you start the engine, especially when oil is cold, it takes time for the pressure to tighten the tensioner and the timing chain rattles till the proper tension is reached. Some people put after market ratchet type tensioners that do not revert back to the loose setting after they pass a ratchet point, but improper installation of those can cause catastrophic engine failure due to overnighting of the chain which breaks under the pressure, so I prefer a bit of rattle at startup than to risk blowing my engine. I know you are low milage, but if you hear unexpected noise, especially at high RPM, I would recommend a valve clearing check which should also reveal if you have any issues with your cam shaft being improperly lubrified as there is a small percentage of KTM 790 and 890 engines who are known to have this issue which results in scarring of the cam shafts and followers, even if KTM is trying to brush it under the rug.
By the way mine has 22700 KM after 1 year and 3 months and I will do a valve clearance check at 27000 after I return from my Greece vacation where I expect to put another 4000KM on the bike. I do the mandatory oil changes with my dealer every ~15000km as per the service schedule, but I also do ~5000Km interval Oil and filter changes on my own, as the 15000Km intervals seem exaggerated for a bike that goes frequently offroad and over 6k RPM :). Hopefully my camshafts look good and I can enjoy this bike for 2 more years, otherwise I will request a fix in warranty (2 years where I leave) and send the bike off to someone that doesn't care too much about reliability and explore the new BMW F900 GS for a while.
@@MentaL65535 that makes a lot of sense. In my case, the noise seems to appear for just a couple of seconds only at that rpm range (5k to 6.5k). Past that point it goes away. The interesting part is that it is not a noise that consistently appears. I am wondering if it is just due to vibrations.. In regards to the cam shaft, yes I heard about that problem. When I brought my ktm to the dealer they just told me it is normal and that is due to the chain… they tighten the chain and they let me go (after $100 charge…).
Thank you so much for the feedback, I heard many people saying that no tuning is needed, but it seemed so strange to me.. but I am sure I am overlooking something
HI, i have the same KTM 890 adventure r 2023 with mivv speed edge aftermarket exhaust. I couldnt decat because of EU Laws, but it sounds and feels now, like it should have from beginning. The best thing i did beside exhaust, was to replace the cam chain tensioner with Dirty Tricks .No more rattling sounds, feels more healthy. greetings from Germany.
@@mountainridevideos2749 thank you so much for your feedback!! A few months ago I noticed a rattling noise coming from the engine bay. This rattling noise seems to appear anytime I accelerate very hard (full throttle) between 5k rpm and 6.5k rpm, and it gets more hearable as the engine is under a lot of pressure, like 4th/5th/6th gear, and for example, if I am uphill. The performance seems not being compromised at all, and this noise is completely absent if I don’t accelerate very hard. I brought it to 3 KTMs dealers and they told me it is nothing to be concerned about. I am wondering if the can chain tensioner could fix it.
I run the Arrow decat with a Wings exhaust, no need for remap, no issues 23 KTM 890 Adv R.. I have a couple of minor issues but fixed them myself. I dont trust the dealer! I had oil weeping from the valve cover and found that KTM did NOT apply the RTV as shown in their repair manual. Once I followed the manual and applied the RTV accordingly no leaks at all. Second was the infamous leak from the radiator hose. Upon inspection, I found the clamps were loose. I went ahead and proactively change to Samco hoses and clamps, no more issues. It's unfortunate that KTM will not fix these issues. In my experience they are NOT hard to address and just require some process improvement/tools and quality checks. In my mind these issues are low hanging fruit (easy to fix) and in doing so KTM will help improve their image. Not sure why they refuse to address it or it seems that way... Thanks for sharing your story.. I love my bike too ...Cheers
Hi George! Thank you very much for sharing your experience. If I will have an issue with the radiator I will know what to look at now. I totally agree, I believe that KTM is reliable on its own, it is a solid engine imo, the problem are the dealers that do not have any knowledge or intent to fix the issues. In regards to the cat, I bought one on eBay for 80 bucks, it is not the arrow one but I would really like to install it. Did you notice any change in performances especially at low rpm when you decat it?
Probably going to pull the trigger on one of these pretty soon, and it's unfortunate that technicians at some dealers suck... I wish Honda made something as capable as these out of the box, but the truth is, no one seems to be making anything as capable as these straight off the showroom floor, else I'd definitely be going another direction. I'll just need to pay close attention to these sorts of details myself, like this guy has to ensure I force the dealerships to properly warranty anything truly out of sorts, and try to find a competent 3rd party KTM mechanic with experience on these bikes before it's up. To be completely fair to KTM as a brand, final inspections are supposed to be done at the dealership on all bikes from all the big manufacturers I'm aware of, so this sounds more of an issue with the dealership technicians being knowledgeable/competent rather than KTM itself, though the countershaft issue was almost certainly something done wrong at the factory; KTM as a business should probably be forcing higher standards on their franchise holders though.
I’ve had, I believe, 11 KTM dirt bikes and street bikes over the years. None of them had over 20,000 miles, so I can’t speak about high mileage reliability, but I’ve never had anything but minor issues.
@@joshs6100- Hi Josh, I totally agree with you when it comes to KTM dealer responsibilities vs manufacturer. Unfortunately, in my experience, majority of the issues I had should have been addressed by the dealer as soon as I made them aware. In my case, I got a lot of inaccurate information and I spent a lot of time researching online to understand what was really going on. As a result, I will not bring my bike to the next oil change, I will perform it by myself along with performing all the checks requested per the manual.
Hey, to be honest, that bike is really great, it is fun and performs very well. However, it is not the bike you buy to have peace of mind, when it comes to reliability. It is just not a Africa Twin.
@@checkitout3474 isn’t africa twin heavy for a middle weight and completely outclassed and underpowered as a 1000cc+ heavy weight against 1290, multiv4 etc.
